Ambarella (NASDAQ:AMBA – Get Free Report) and nLight (NASDAQ:LASR – Get Free Report) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends and risk.
Risk & Volatility
Ambarella has a beta of 2.14, meaning that its share price is 114% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, nLight has a beta of 2.48, meaning that its share price is 148% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Ambarella and nLight”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Ambarella | $348.05 million | 11.54 | -$117.13 million | ($2.11) | -44.58 |
| nLight | $198.55 million | 9.31 | -$60.79 million | ($0.88) | -42.09 |
nLight has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Ambarella. Ambarella is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than nLight, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Ambarella and nLight’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Ambarella | -25.46% | -14.73% | -12.06% |
| nLight | -19.13% | -17.18% | -12.96% |
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current recommendations for Ambarella and nLight, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Ambarella | 1 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 2.69 |
| nLight | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 3.00 |
Ambarella presently has a consensus price target of $93.88, indicating a potential downside of 0.20%. nLight has a consensus price target of $32.67, indicating a potential downside of 11.81%. Given Ambarella’s higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Ambarella is more favorable than nLight.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
82.1% of Ambarella shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.9% of nLight shares are held by institutional investors. 5.3% of Ambarella shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.1% of nLight shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Summary
nLight beats Ambarella on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Ambarella
Ambarella, Inc. develops semiconductor solutions that enable high-definition (HD) and ultra HD compression, image signal processing, and artificial intelligence processing worldwide. The company's system-on-a-chip designs integrated HD video processing, image processing, artificial intelligence computer vision algorithms, audio processing, and system functions onto a single chip for delivering video and image quality, differentiated functionality, and low power consumption. Its solutions are used in automotive cameras, such as automotive video recorders, electronic mirrors, front advanced driver assistance system camera, cabin monitoring system and driver monitoring system camera, and central domain controllers for autonomous vehicle; enterprise and public class, and home security camera; and robotics and industrial application, including identification/authentication cameras, robotic products, and sensing cameras, as well as cameras for the enterprise, home, public spaces, and consumer leisure comprising wearable body cameras, sports action cameras, social media cameras, drones for capturing aerial video or photographs, video conferencing, and virtual reality applications. The company sells its solutions to original design manufacturers and original equipment manufacturers through its direct sales force and distributors. Ambarella, Inc. was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.
About nLight
nLIGHT, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor and fiber lasers for industrial, microfabrication, and aerospace and defense applications. The company operates in two segments, Laser Products and Advanced Development. It offers semiconductor lasers with various ranges of power levels, wavelengths, and output fiber sizes; and programmable and serviceable fiber lasers for use in industrial and aerospace and defense applications. The company also provides laser sensors, including light detection and ranging technologies for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance applications; and fiber amplifiers, beam combination, and control systems for use in high-energy laser systems in directed energy applications. It sells its products through direct sales force in the United States, China, South Korea, and European countries, as well as through independent sales representatives and distributors in Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and South America. The company was formerly known as nLight Photonics Corporation and changed its name to nLIGHT, Inc. in January 2016. nLIGHT, Inc. was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Camas, Washington.
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